Fires in West Africa

Widespread burning is underway in West Africa as the continent’s burning pattern shifts from south of the equator to north. The burning season peaks in southern Africa in late summer or early fall, only to begin building in the areas between the southern edge of the Sahara and the equator. This true-color image of the widespread burning is centered on the country of Burkina and was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on December 1, 2002. Active fire detections are marked with red dots.
Credit: Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC